The Half-Truth Will Set You Free
by profdaddy66
Summary: Katy's brother pays a visit to New York, and everyone is pleased to see him... except Katy. When Shawn and Maya take it upon themselves to find out why, a very dark and ugly secret from the Clutterbucket family history is brought to light.
1. First Preface

_**FIRST PREFACE**_

 _1982\. Tulsa, Oklahoma._

 _The teenage boy cocked the weapon and raised it up to his chest, waving it toward his father. "Don't make me shoot you," he quietly said._

 _The father stood there for a moment sizing up the sixteen-year old standing in front of him aiming the shotgun at him. "I don't think you got the_ _ **guts**_ _to shoot me, boy," he sneered, an evil smile curling over his lips._

 _"Give me an excuse and we'll_ _ **both**_ _find out,"_

 _The smile went away from the father's face. For the first time, he could see his son was deadly serious, but he continued playing as though he was still kidding._

 _"Why don't you give me that gun."_

 _"I'll give you the_ _ **bullets first**_ _!" the boy growled, pulling the stock up to his shoulder to take aim._ _"Get out of here and don't come back!" he shouted._

 _The father slowly turns and starts to walk away, but at the last second he turns around again, this time with a gun in his own hand aiming it right at his son. It would be the last move he would ever make._

 _The sound was like a cannon blast in the enveloping silence. The shot almost knocked the father off of his feet, but somehow he kept upright and managed to fire off one shot hitting his son in the shoulder, but the boy also remained standing and fired a second and decisive shot…_


	2. Second Preface

_**SECOND PREFACE**_

"McCARTHYISM"

Cory Matthews wrote the name in large letters on the blackboard in his history class. "Who can tell me about McCarthyism?"

"One of Charlie McCarthy's famous one-liners?" said the blond-haired girl sitting in the front row.

"Nice try, Maya," Said a chagrinned Cory.

"Communism?" said Riley Matthews, Cory's daughter and Maya's best friend, "We've talked about it before."

"Very good. You're in the ball park."

"Senator Joe McCarthy," said a voice from further back in the classroom. The voice was Lucas Friar, Riley's boyfriend.

"So far, so good," Cory replied. "What else?"

"McCarthy was famous for exposing communists in the 1950s." said Farkle Minkus.

"Actually," Cory began, "He was **in** -famous for accusing people of **being** communists. More often than not he never proved they were."

"So the people he accused of being communists actually weren't?" asked Lucas.

"Not necessarily," Cory replied. "We don't really know if most of them were communists or not."

The class looked a little confused as Cory continued.

"But what made McCarthy infamous was that he often bypassed due process of law by prejudging people. That is to say, he **presumed** they were communists and essentially never gave them a chance to defend themselves. Worse yet, when Senator McCarthy made his accusations, he often resorted to using ' **half** -truths'."

"Meaning he used something that was only half-true and made it look like it was **all** true," said Smackle, Farkle's girlfriend.

"Verisimilitude." Said Farkle.

"Watch your language!" said Maya.

"You're close, Farkle," said Cory. "McCarthy used statements that were actually true, but they were only a **part** of the **whole** truth. McCarthy and his staff used this and other tactics that were unfair, unethical, and sometimes even illegal. Added to which, he would accuse his colleagues and people in the media of being communists simply because they disagreed with his tactics, and that came to be known as…" Cory points to the word written on the blackboard,

"McCarthyism." the whole class recited together.

"You've heard the expression 'Innocent until proven guilty'? McCarthy apparently believed that an accused person was ' **guilty unless proven** innocent'."

Cory looked around the classroom. "Have any of you ever been accused of doing something that you know you didn't do, or more to the point, has anyone ever accused you of something that you know you did without their knowing the whole story behind it?"


	3. Chapter One

_**CHAPTER ONE**_

"Hey, Maya. I have a little surprise for you."

Shawn Hunter, Maya's adopted dad, was waiting for her at Topanga's, the local hangout, when Maya walked in with her friends. Katy was not there yet.

"Well, ya know I love being kept in suspense," Shawn knew that Maya was being sarcastic. "What's up?"

"Guess who's coming to New York for a visit."

Maya pretended to think for a moment, "Well, let's see.. Uncle Boing is already here, so I have no idea."

" **Another** uncle of yours," Shawn replied.

Maya thought for a moment, but then her eyes lit up.

"Uncle Ironside?"

"That's the one."

"Cool!"

"Uncle **Ironside**?!" asked Riley, "Who's that?"

"My uncle. You remember him, Riley."

Riley thought for a split second, "Oh yeah. Desert Storm veteran. He lost his legs to a landmine."

"Yep. Just below the knee."

"Why 'Uncle Ironside'?" Lucas asked.

"Because he spends most of his time in a wheelchair." Maya answered.

"Doesn't he wear prosthetics?" Farkle asked.

"Only when he has to," Maya replied, "He told me his old prosthetics got recalled, but he got tired of waiting for the company to send his new legs to Ohio, so he's coming here to get them."

"He's coming here to find his legs," said Riley contemplatingly, "Am I the only one who thinks that sounds weird?"

"I'll bet he has some stories to tell," said Lucas.

"Oh, he's a **really** good storyteller," said Maya. "That might be why he works on radio."

"He's on the radio?"

"Yeah, he works for a media group in Cleveland," said Maya. "They do all sorts of stuff on radio and television and digital media, but mainly he's a voiceover guy and a disc jockey on satellite radio."

"Maybe we can get some pointers from him," said Farkle.

"Pointers for what?" asked Riley.

"Our new radio show," Smackle answered. "We got some air time on the high school radio station to do our science show."

"What science show?" Lucas asked.

"The Smarkle Hour!" Farkle and Smackle proclaim together.

"Farkle," said Lucas, "As much money as your dad makes, you could have easily built your own radio station."

"I did."

"You **did**?"

"Yeah, at the high school."

Lucas couldn't believe his ears. "You **built** the high school radio station?!"

"Actually, the Minkus Family Foundation did," Maya said.

"I didn't know that," said Lucas.

"You were in Texas when it happened, Huckleberry." said Maya.

Lucas could only shake his head and smile.

"So, Dad," said Maya, "When is Uncle Ironside supposed to get into town?"

"He should be getting in…"

"… **right about now**!"

A baritone voice boomed from the doorway. Everyone turned around to see a large, smiling, gray-haired bespectacled man slowly coming through the doorway in a wheelchair.

"Ironside!" Maya squealed.

"Batgirl!"

Maya goes up to give her uncle a hug..

"Wait a minute!"

The uncle stops her for a moment, holding his downturned hand up to Maya's height, then following it with his eyes, lowered it down to her knees, then looked back up at Maya.

"Young lady, you've done some serious growing."

"Yeah, well, I haven't grown **that** much."

"But you've still grown." the uncle said. He then laughs and spreads out his arms to welcome Maya's embrace. Then he looks at his brother-in-law.

"You got here early," said Shawn, "How did you get down the stairs?"

"What? Didn't you hear the crashing?"

It took a moment for the joke to settle in, but once it did everyone chuckled including John, "No, a couple of people were on their way up, and they were nice enough to help bring me down. Of course now that I'm down, going back up may be a challenge- unless I can find someone who has an anti-gravity device."

"I can build one for you." The voice was Farkle's.

"He's not kidding, either." Smackle added.

"I'll have to get back to you on that," John said. "Farkle, isn't it?"

"The one and only." replied Farkle with a smile as he shook John's hand.

"That I believe," said John, "Maya's told me about you. And you," John looked at the bespectacled, raven-haired girl standing next to Farkle, "You must be Farkle's girlfriend. Maya told me about you, too."

"Isadora Smackle," she and John shake hands, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ironside."

"Hey," said Maya, "Only **I** get to call him that."

John chuckles, "It's Beckett. **John** Beckett," he said to Smackle, "But you can call me John." Smackle smiles back at John, who then turned to look at the tall, strapping young man standing next to Riley, "I'm not sure I know **you** , though."

"Lucas Friar, sir," said Lucas, extending his hand for John to shake.

John stared at Lucas for a moment as he shook his hand. "Texas?" he finally said.

"Austin," Lucas replied.

"Knew it," said John, "Friendliest people in the world. And by the way, you can call me John, too."

"Wait, you mean Maya never told you about **me**?" Lucas sounded a little disappointed.

"Well, from time to time she dropped a lot of nicknames, never used the same one twice. I figured there was more than one guy."

"You mean nicknames like 'Ranger Rick', 'Hee Haw' and 'Huckleberry'?"

John was a little surprised. "Yeah.. and some guy named Twigglebottom something-or-other," he added, and then it occurred to him, "Wait a minute, you mean those are all **you**?"

Lucas nodded, "Mortimer Twigglebottom-Smythe," he said in his phony British accent.

John laughed heartily at Lucas' humor. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised," John responded in an exaggerated British accent of his own. "Rupert Maximillian-Paddington at your service, young man." They all share a large laugh as John again shakes Lucas' hand, then his eyes then suspiciously came to rest on the tall, slender brunette standing next to Maya.

"Gidget?!"

"You remember me!" Riley said happily.

"The little girl with the big ideas. How could I forget?" Riley laughed as she gave John a hug. "Boy, it's been a while," said John, "You've done some growing, too."

"Good to see you again, Uncle John."

"You too, Riley," said John, "Your dad still teaching?"

"Yep, and Mom's still lawyering,"

" **And** branching out into the **bakery** business," Maya added, "She runs this place now."

"Oh, she does, huh?" John looked around and nodded in approvement.

"Yeah, she does," another female voice replied from the doorway. It was Topanga walking through the door with Cory, Auggie and his girlfriend Ava right behind her. John turned his chair around and smiled at the adult couple.

"I should have figured by the name of the place."

Topanga looked at the handicapped man with a little confusion, but then her eyes widened in recognition, "John Beckett?" she said.

"In what's left of the flesh!"

"Hey, John," said Cory, extending his hand. "It's been a long time."

"Month of proverbial Sundays," said John.

"So what brings you to New York?" asked Topanga.

"Ohh," John pondered whimsically as he looked back grinning at Riley, "I'm just here to find my legs." Riley blushed as she smiled.

"You still haven't gotten your new prosthetics?" said Cory.

"No, I haven't," John replied, "And I'm getting kinda tired of taking all my turns on one and-a-half wheels." His eyes come to rest on the young boy and the girl standing next to him.

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure, young man." said John.

"I'm August Matthews, sir," said Auggie, shaking John's hand, "But all my friends call me Auggie."

"Well, I hope you can add **my** name to your friends list," said John.

"I already have."

John's eyebrows raise. "I think I just might have my work cut out for me here." he said to Cory and Topanga.

"Think you can handle it, John?" asked Topanga.

"Well, if he's still talking to me after two weeks, then I know I've done **something** right." John replied. He then turns his eyes to the girl standing next to Auggie.

"And **you** are?"

"Ava Morgenstern," said Ava. The girl and the man shake hands.

"Nice to meet **you** , Ms. Morgenstern," said John. He looks at the two standing together with a touch of suspicion.

"Let me guess: Boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" His pointed finger alternates between the two.

"They've been married for fifty-three years." said Cory.

"Huh?!" John did a double take at Cory's words.

"It's a long story," said Topanga.

"Hey, what happened to your **legs** , Mr. Beckett?" asked Ava.

 _Speaking of long stories,_ John thought.

"Ava.." Topanga began.

"No, no," said John, "It's all right, Topanga. This young lady here asks a valid question, and it deserves a valid answer." He then turns to Ava and explains, "I was in the military a few years back. While I was deployed overseas a jeep I was riding in accidentally drove over a landmine."

"So you lost your legs to the landmine?" Ava asked.

"No, it wasn't so much the landmine itself," John continued, "The explosion blew the jeep high into the air. I hit the ground first, and then the jeep came back down on my feet, right below my knees."

"Ouch.." Auggie said, "That must have been awful."

"Actually, I was very lucky," said John, "But I can't say the same for my friends."

"What do you mean?" asked Ava.

"There were five of us in the jeep," John explained, "I was the only one that survived."

The others all winced at hearing this. Everyone, that is, except for Katy, who had just walked in and made her way behind the counter to get ready for work. Shawn was the first one to notice her coming in.

"Hi, Honey."

"Hey, Shawn." Katy said quietly.

"Hey, you know, your brother is here." said Shawn,

"I- I know. I saw him."

"Is something wrong?" Shawn asked with concern, but Katy gently brushed the question off.

"Shawn, can we... not... talk about this right now?"

Shawn looked at his wife for a long moment; her words and the **tone** of her words confirming that something was indeed wrong, but he decided to go along with her request, at least for the moment.

"Okay." he said quietly.

From the other side of the room, John caught a glimpse at the look on his younger sister's face. Even from this distance he could feel the temperature in the room quickly drop ten degrees and the awkwardness level start to rise, though John did his best to hide his emotional discomfort.

"Well, listen, folks, I'm, uh... I'm gonna need to go back to the hotel room and freshen up a little," he said somewhat curtly, "Maybe we can, uh... meet up again for dinner somewhere?"

"You said you were in town for a couple of weeks?" said Cory.

"Yeah."

"How about our place Sunday night?" Topanga offered.

John nods in approval. "Sounds good to me."

"Okay, we'll see you then." said Cory.

"Done deal." said John as he wheels himself back out the door, but stops as he remembers the stairway leading up to the street. He turns back to the others.

"Uhm, could I get a little help here?"

"I'm on it," said Lucas, who begins to walk toward the door with Farkle and Smackle right behind. "We have to be taking off, too. See you guys later." he called to the others.

After they help John back up the stairs, Shawn turns back to Katy.

"All right, Katy," Shawn softly said, "What's going on?"

Katy is somewhat indignant at Shawn's quick change in attitude.

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to talk about it."

"Yeah, well, that was then," Shawn replied, "This is now."

"Shawn..."

"Katy, that's your **brother** , and you didn't even say hi to him."

Katy looked down at the floor.

"Katy," Shawn repeated softly, "What's wrong?"

Katy heaved a heavy sigh. "I guess you're going to find out sooner or later."

"Find out what?" Shawn asked.

"It's... it's not easy for me to talk about this, Shawn." she slowly said.

"Talk about what, Mom?" Maya joined the private conversation.

Maya looks expectantly at her mother, who looks back at her with concern in her eyes. It was difficult enough that Katy was being coerced to tell her husband something about John that few people knew, but now she was faced with having to tell her daughter at the same time. In Katy's mind, what was not easy a moment ago just took a more complicated turn.

Katy heaved a heavy sigh. "You know, I never mentioned this before, Shawn, but... I kind of envy you."

Shawn had to hold in a chuckle. "You envy **me**? Why?"

"Because you actually knew your father," Katy replied.

"I **barely** knew him." Shawn added.

"But you still **knew** him," Katy reiterated, "Have you ever heard me talk about **my** dad?"

"Well... now that I **think** about it, **no**." Shawn answered.

"There's a reason for that."

"And the reason is?"

"Because I have no memory of him," Katy said softly, "He... died right before I was born."

Shawn looks at Maya shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm sorry for that," Shawn quietly said, "but how does **John** fit into all of this?"

Katy swallowed a lump in her throat. These next words were not going to come out easily.

"Because… because John is the reason our dad is dead."

Shawn looked hard at Katy.

"What?"

Katy did a quarter-turn away from Shawn and Maya shaking her head.

"You mean John killed your father?"

Still facing away from them, Katy nodded hesitatingly. "I was nine when I found out."

"How did it happen? And why?" Shawn asked.

"I don't know." Katy whispered.

"John never told you why?"

Katy turned back to Shawn and Maya fighting back a tear. "No," she finally said, "And neither did Mom."

Shawn and Maya exchange glances.

"I've got to get to work." Katy said curtly, and walked over to the register to wait on a customer. It took Shawn several moments to process this new information, and then he looked at Maya again.

"Did **you** know about this, Maya?"

"She said that Grandpa was dead and she never knew him," Maya replied, "but she never said anything about Uncle John **killing** him."

"So this is news to you as much as it is to me."

Maya nodded, "Yeah, it is."

"I think I should go and talk to John." Shawn said.

"I'm going with you." Maya asserted.

"You sure?"

"Dad, if there **is** more to this story, and we both believe there is," Maya said, "then the truth deserves to come out for all of us."

Shawn nods to his adopted daughter, and the two head for the doorway. Cory, Topanga, Riley, Auggie and Ava are sitting in the sofas near the door as they head out.

"Where you goin', Shawnie?" Cory asked.

"Maya and I have some errands to run." Shawn replied.

"We'll see you guys later." Maya said.

A show of waving hands and a chorus of byes as father and daughter walk out; Katy casts a glance at them as they leave, but then does a double take and watches them closer as they walk up the stairs...

 _ **END OF CHAPTER ONE**_


	4. Chapter Two

**_SYNOPSIS_**

 ** _Katy's older brother John pays a visit from Cleveland, but Katy is not happy to see him. A concerned Shawn presses Katy for why, but all Katy tells them is that John was responsible for the death of their father, whom Katy never knew._**

 ** _Shawn and Maya decide to find out exactly what happened, and in so doing are about to uncover a very dark and ugly secret from the Clutterbucket family history..._**

A knock at the hotel door.

"Be right there!" John's voice called from inside.

A moment or two later, John opens the door and finds Shawn and Maya standing in the hall. For a moment he is a little confused, but quickly figures out in his mind why they're there.

"Hey. C'mon in." said John reservedly. Father and his adopted daughter walk in and sit down.

"Listen, John," said Shawn, "I just wanted to..."

"I already know why you're here, Shawn," interrupted John. "You want to know why Katy is giving me the cold shoulder, right?"

"Well, there's more to it than just that." Shawn replied.

John didn't have to ask him the rest. He already knew.

"You want to know what it was I did that causes her to act the way she does when I'm around."

"Well, we kinda already know, Uncle John." said Maya.

"' **Kinda** '? What did Katy tell you?"

"She said she never knew your dad," Shawn answered, "and that you're the reason why he's not around anymore."

"That's all we could get out of her." Maya added.

John heaved a sigh as he removed his glasses and looked down at the floor.

"Is it true, John?" asked Shawn. "Are **you** the reason why your dad is dead?"

It seemed like a long time before John finally answered.

The same old story all over again; the same emotions, the same anguish, the same internal guilt, the same scars. He thought he had put most of it behind him when he joined the Air Force, but he knew one way or another it would have to come out all over again, but he wasn't blaming Shawn and Maya. Inwardly, John steeled himself to the onset of the old recurring pains once again and began to speak.

"Yes," John quietly said, "It's true."

"Well, how did it happen?" Shawn asked, "Was it an accident or what?"

John rubbed his eyes and continued to look down at the floor and slowly shook his head as he answered.

"No. It wasn't an accident. I killed our father."

Shawn and Maya looked at one another in disbelief.

"There's got to be more to this story, John."

John sighed again as he slowly raised his head.

"Yes, Shawn, there is. More than you two realize," he said softly. "A **lot** more."

He looked for a long time at Shawn and at Maya. "Are you two sure you want to hear this?"

"I think we **need** to." replied Shawn, with Maya nodding.

John closed his eyes and heaved another sigh. _Here we go again,_ he thought. He nodded as he began his story...

"Our mom and dad were Roy and Angela Clutterbucket," said John, "We lived near Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was born out of wedlock, and my dad demanded Mom give me up for adoption but she wouldn't."

"The marriage went downhill from there on?" Shawn asked.

"From what Mom told me, there never **was** a **high** point to it; their marriage was common-law," John replied, "From the time they moved in together Dad never treated Mom very well, and it just kept getting worse. Dad could never hold down a job, and most of the time he didn't even bother **looking** for one, so Mom got a job waiting tables, which Dad resented. He would always start fights about all sorts of things, mainly money, but he would always accuse her of cheating on him, which she never did.

"And then Dad started spending more and more time away from the house, staying away for days and sometimes even weeks at a stretch," John continued, "But every time he came back again it was the same scene all over again: he'd be drunk or stoned or something and he'd throw things around and beat on Mom with his fists or whatever and scream at her about every petty little thing. You could hear them yelling from anywhere in the house, and I heard it all from my bedroom, but sometimes I'd peer out through the crack in my door watching the whole thing and praying that he wouldn't see me.

"Eventually it got to the point where Mom started calling the police on him, and they'd drag him away and let him cool off in a holding cell until he sobered up. He'd always come back with this look of apology on his face and beg Mom to take him back. He would use the old "I can change" speech, and she'd take him back, but he always went back to his old ways every time. He never changed.

Shawn and Maya were listening intently to John as he continued.

"As the years went by, Dad kept getting Mom pregnant again and again, but she miscarried every time."

"Because of your Dad?" Shawn asked.

John nodded. "Every time she **got** pregnant the beatings got worse; he would always aim for her abdomen. It was almost as though he was blaming the baby."

"Did he ever beat up on **you**?" Maya asked.

"Ohh, yeah," John replied, " **Many** times. A lot of those times Mom would get in front of him to try and protect me, but he would only beat up on her worse for getting in his way."

"So what happened?" asked Shawn.

John took another deep breath before continuing.

"As I grew up," he continued, "I started to realize that maybe **I** could stand up against Dad, so I began working out on my own, building up my strength and endurance..."

A pause.

"..and then one night, New Years Eve, right before 1982 began," he continued, "Dad got Mom pregnant again."

"With Katy?" asked Shawn.

"With Katy," John echoed, "And this… this **fear** developed in my mind that it was all going to happen again, that he was going to beat Mom senseless again, and she'd wind up losing the baby again, or worse, wind up dead."

A look of angry determination clouded John's face. "And right then and there, I swore that that was one vicious circle that I would break no matter what, even if it cost me my own life."

"What happened?"

"A couple of months later, when it dawned on Dad that Mom was pregnant again, he started at her to beat her up again, and that's when I got up and stood in front of him…."

 _With a look of pure hatred in his eyes, Roy started walking toward his occasional wife, fists at the ready, when John stood up and faced him._

 _"Get outta my way, boy."_

 _"No."_

 _"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" Roy asked._

 _"You're not going to hit Mom again."_

 _"Oh really? Who's going to stop..."_

 _" **I** will!" John shouted harshly before Roy could finish the question. He never took his eyes off of his father._

 _Roy sized up the young man for a moment, then a smile came over his face as he chuckled._

 _"Boy, you're somethin' else, y'know that?" said Roy, slowly turning around to face the door, "Yes, sir, you're really somethin' else..."_

 _Roy had turned his back to his son just long enough to ball up his fist, and then suddenly turned around to throw a punch in John's face, but this time he was ready for it. With lightning speed John had held up his hand to catch Roy's flying fist and hold it less than an inch away from his left cheekbone. He never took his eyes off of his violent father as Roy struggled to free his hand, but John refused to let go._

 _"What's the matter... **Daddy**?" asked John sarcastically, "Cat got your fist?"_

 _Roy continued to struggle to free his hand, and John harshly pushed his fist away from his face as he finally let go, pushing Roy back a step or two._

 _"Get out of here. And don't come back." John growled._

 _Roy took a long glaring look into the eyes of his nearly-grown son, mostly angry, but now with a growing confusion that his son, no longer a boy, but not quite yet a man, whom he took for granted for so long was no longer a target of convenience for him, but standing up for himself and his mother, and even holding his ground against him._

 _John took a half step toward Roy._

 _"I said **get out**!"_

 _Grudgingly, Roy walked out the door, but he knew he would be back._

 _John knew it too._

"..but it didn't end there." said Maya.

"No, it didn't," said John, "Not quite."

"It got worse." Shawn surmised.

"Yeah," said John, "The next time things came to a head pretty fast."

"He took it to the next level?" Shawn asked.

"I had a feeling he would," John replied, "It wasn't even a week before he showed up again looking for a fight. I saw him walking toward the house from a block or two away, so I called the police..."

 _"I thought I told you not to come back."_

 _Without a word, Roy continued walking across toward the house, and toward John standing on the front porch._

 _"Stop!" shouted John._

 _Out of the corner of his eye, John saw a police cruiser approaching._

 _Roy's gait became faster as he came close to John. He raised his fist as he got close enough and threw it at John's jaw, but this time John did nothing to defend himself. He fell hard to the ground._

 _Roy stood over him, oblivious to the approaching cruiser. He nodded and smiled at his fallen son; John remained on the ground holding his jaw._

 _"Not so **tough** now, **are** ya, boy?" Roy grabbed John by the shirt and pulled him back up to his feet. " **Now** your daddy is gonna teach you a **lesson**. A good, hard lesson you ain't **never** gonna forget."_

 _Roy draws back his head and thrusts it hard into John's right eye. He recoils in pain as Roy is about to do it again when…_

 _"All right, hold it!"_

 _Roy quickly looks around in surprise to see two patrolmen approaching. Still holding John's shirt in his fist, Roy turns back to him and, no longer caring what anyone else thought, threw John to the ground and began to choke him. The cops ran up and grabbed Roy, throwing him to the ground and restraining him..._

"They arrested him." Shawn deduced.

"Yeah," said John, "He was charged with assault and child abuse."

"Child abuse?" asked Maya.

"I was sixteen, still a minor."

"And you just stood there and took it?"

John nodded. "Yeah, I did. I figured the best thing **I** could do was just stand there and let him go at it until the cops showed up. Made for proof of his assault, **and** the cops were witnesses."

Maya nodded in understanding.

"So what happened next?" asked Shawn.

"The D.A. sent it to trial," John answered, "he was found guilty of assault and given six months in jail."

"Just six months? Didn't he have a record?"

"For **minor** things, yeah: DUIs, stolen property, stuff like that. But this was the first time he had gotten time for assault."

"That's why he only got six months." said Maya.

"Yeah. I remember what he said to me right before they took him out of the courtroom..."

 _"You better watch your back, boy.. I'm gonna be comin' for you."_

"I responded back with..."

 _"You're gonna find me waiting."_

"They dragged him out of the courtroom. He kept his eyes on me the whole time, and I kept mine on his. Mom and I started keeping guns around the house, and I decided to arm myself wherever I went."

"So did Roy serve his whole six months?" Shawn asked.

"Almost."

"He was paroled?"

"No," said John, "He escaped."

Maya softly gasped.

"A couple of weeks after Dad was jailed Mom and I moved into a mobile home park on the other end of town. I was at work when I heard he had escaped, and when I **did** hear about it I ran straight home."

"But you and Grandma moved," said Maya, You should have been all right."

"No," said John, " **I** knew he'd track us down; it was just a matter of time. All he had to do was ask some former neighbors a few questions and this and that, and he'd be right at our doorstep. I told the police that I was sure that once he got out of prison he'd be coming after **me** before he did anything **else,"**

John's brow furrowed. "But I **also** knew that if he **was** going to take me out he'd have to do it fast before he got caught again. So once I heard that he had escaped it was 'all hands on deck'."

"And he picked the worst possible time to show up." Shawn added.

"Yep. He did..."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER TWO_**

 _NEXT:_

John continues telling his story:

 _From the moment the judge declared him guilty and decided he was better off spending the next six months in jail, Roy Clutterbucket had only one thing on his mind: he wanted to kill his own family for betraying him. Never mind the fact that he brought it on himself with all the abuse his wife and son suffered at his hands. In his own twisted way, he convinced himself that **he** was the one who had been wronged, and he was going to set things right for himself no matter what. All he had to do was worm his way into the boy's bedroom while he was asleep, and then, "Smile for the obituary, boy. Bang, your dead". And then the same to his cheating mother, and it would be all over._

 _There was no visible moon, and the only sound was the incessant but sedate chirping of crickets nearby as John slowly wrapped his hand around the doorknob. He was somewhat surprised to find that the door wasn't locked, but he didn't care._

 _"All the easier for me," Roy thought as he slowly opened the door. He stealthily tiptoed his way into the darkened living room._

 _But it didn't stay dark for long..._


	5. Chapter Three

**_SYNOPSIS:_**

 ** _John Beckett, Katy's older brother from Cleveland, pays a visit to New York, but Katy is not happy to see him. After revealing to Shawn and Maya that she holds a grudge against John for killing their father, Shawn and Maya decide to get at the truth._**

 ** _John is about to tell them what happened..._**

 ** _CHAPTER THREE_**

 _From the moment the judge declared him guilty and decided he was better off spending the next six months in jail, Roy Clutterbucket had only one thing on his mind: he wanted to get revenge on his own family for betraying him. Never mind the fact that he brought it all on himself with the abuse his wife and son suffered at his hands. In his own distorted way, he convinced himself that **he** was the one who had been wronged, and he was going to set things straight for himself no matter what. All he had to do was worm his way into the boy's bedroom while he was asleep, and then, "Smile for the obituary, boy. Bang, your dead". And then after he did the same to his cheating mother, it would be all over. And the sooner he did it, the better._

 _There was no visible moon, and the only sound was the incessant but sedate chirping of crickets nearby as Roy slowly wrapped his hand around the doorknob. He was somewhat surprised to find that the door wasn't locked, but he didn't care._ _"All the easier for me," Roy thought as he slowly opened the door. He stealthily tiptoed his way into the darkened living room._

 _But it didn't stay dark for long..._

 _It seemed as though every light in the room suddenly switched on all at once, flooding the living room in a bright and temporarily blinding glow. Roy had to take a second to focus, and when he finally did, he saw John sitting in a chair in a far corner of the room, holding a 12-gauge shotgun in his hands._

 _Father and son stared at one another for what seemed like a long time. It was Roy who spoke first._

 _"Well, boy," he said, "I **warned** you I'd be comin' after you, didn't I?"_

 _"Yeah, and I warned **you** that I would be **waiting** , didn't I?" said John, "Or did you conveniently **forget** that part?"_

 _"Why don't you put down that gun and let's talk." said Roy._

 _But John had no such intention. He looked at his father with incredulity._

 _"Really?" John couldn't believe Roy's words. "Is **that** what you busted out of jail for? To sneak up here in the middle of the night so we can **talk**?! Just what kind of an idiot do you think I **am** , anyway?"_

 _"Don't be talkin' to your daddy like that, boy."_

 _"The only **talking** you ever did was with your **fists** ," John continued, "That's the only language you ever learned."_

 _"Shut up, boy.."_

 _"And that was the only communication you used with **Mom** , and it was the only communication you used with **me** ," John continued, "We took your abuse for years, and you took the lives of my siblings before they ever had a chance to live," John said firmly, "But it ends right here, right now. You will never... **never** get your hands on my little sister."_

 _Roy stared hard at his son as he pointed the barrel of the shotgun toward the door._

 _"You see that door behind you?" John asked, "You're gonna go back out that door, and you're gonna do it in one of two ways, but I'm going to let **you** decide: you can either walk out on your own and never come back... or you're gonna be **carried** out of here... on a stretcher, or in a body bag."_

 _Roy was now seething, he slowly began to shake his head and, without realizing it, was beginning to move toward his son._

 _"You sorry little son of a..."_

 _" **Don't!** "_

 _John quickly jumped to his feet, cocking the weapon and raising it up to his chest, aiming it toward his father._

 _"Don't make me shoot you!" said John._

 _Roy stopped in his tracks and stood there for a moment sizing up the armed sixteen-year old standing in front of him. "I don't think you got the **guts** to shoot me, boy," he sneered, an evil smile curling over his lips._

 _"I swear to God, You give me an excuse and we'll **both** find out."_

 _The smile went away from Roy's face. For the first time, Roy could see his son was deadly serious, but he continued playing as though he was still kidding. He began moving forward again..._

 _"Why don't you give me that gun..."_

 _"I'll give you the **bullets** **first**!" John growled, pulling the stock up to his shoulder to take aim._

 _"Now get out of here, and don't you ever come back!"_

 _Roy turns around and starts to walk away, but at the last possible second he turns around, this time with a gun in his own hand intending to aim it at his son._

 _It would be the last deceptive move Roy would ever make._

 _T_ _he sound was like a cannon blast in the enveloping silence. Roy grunted in pain as the shot almost knocked him off of his feet, but somehow he kept upright and managed to haphazardly fire off one shot hitting John in the shoulder. The force of Roy's shot drove John back toward the far wall, but he also managed to stay on his feet and fire a **second** shot at his father. The force knocked Roy hard and flat onto his back on the floor. After a brief struggle to keep consciousness, Roy collapsed, never to move again._

 _John was breathing hard as he leaned against the far wall staring at what remained of his wretched, hateful, violent, self-serving, pathetic apology for a father. The adrenaline he felt coursing through his veins began to attenuate, and John could start to feel a sharpening pain in his wounded shoulder as he staggered over to where Roy's body lay, his pistol still clutched in his now-lifeless hand._

 _He took a closer look at what was left of his father, and then stared for a moment at the weapon he used to defend against him. He didn't want to have to use it, but Roy gave him no other choice. He tossed the shotgun away and then slowly trudged across the kitchen toward the far door on the other side, the door to his mother's bedroom._

 _Without a word, John slowly opened the door. The light from the kitchen brought precious little illumination into the room, where John could see his very-pregnant mother sitting on the bed with her back against the outside wall, her eyes tightly shut and clutching a pillow to her chest._

 _"Mom?"_

 _Angela gasped at the voice, she opened her eyes and gasped again at the sight of her son, blood seeping through his shirt from where he had been shot, but still alive. Still very much alive._

 _"John.."_

 _Angela clambored off the bed and waddled over to her son. "John, you're **hurt**."_

 _"I'll be all right, Mom.." John wearily said._

 _"But what about..."_

 _"He had a gun, too. He would have killed **all** of us. I had no choice." John looked right into his mother's eyes as he said those words._

 _"So he's..."_

 _"Yeah, he is..." John looked at his mother with a face full of remorse._ _"Mom, I'm sorry.."_

 _Angela slowly shook her head. "No, John. Don't be. Don't say that."_

 _"Mom, I didn't want to..."_

 _"I know, honey.. I know," said Angela, "But you said it yourself: you had no choice."_

 _John looked hard and long at his mother, choking back the tears that he knew would come any moment._

 _It's over now," said Angela, "It's all over."_

 _She hugged John's neck, and as the sirens approached, mother and son both began to let their emotions go.. The tears they shed were tears of frustration, tears of exhaustion, tears of redemption._ _But now there was something else emanating from their sobs, something that Angela had not felt in a long time, and something John had never felt at all: an overwhelming sense of peace._

Shawn and Maya sat in the hotel room totally enthralled by the vivid story. John then undoes the last two buttons on his polo shirt and pulls the collar down off of his shoulder to show them the scar from the gunshot. Shawn and Maya both took a closer look at it, but it was Maya who reached out to touch it. She felt the small indentation that remained from where the bullet struck.

"My God," Maya whispered.

"Self-defense," Shawn was still processing the new information, "So... you killed your father in self-defense."

John nodded as he pulled the collar back up and redid the buttons.

"So what happened next?" Maya asked.

"After all the smoke had cleared," John continued, "Pretty much everyone else said the same thing: self-defense."

"Everyone?" Shawn asked.

"Police, lawyers, grand jury, everyone down the line."

" **Then** what happened?" asked Shawn.

"After it was all over, Mom and I decided the best thing to do was to move again," said John, "But not just to another part of town this time. We decided that after Katy was born we would move out of state."

"Arkansas." said Maya.

John nodded. "So I went and got my GED, and then after Katy was born we packed up what little we had left and moved to a place not too far from Little Rock called Possum Trot."

"How did you get the name Beckett?" Shawn asked curiously.

"I hated my father's name, so right before I went into the Air Force I decided I was going to legally change my surname," John explained, "I used most of the letters in the name Clutterbucket, and 'Beckett' was the first one I came up with."

"You had a good reason to be ashamed of the name Clutterbucket," Maya remarked. "I kinda know how you feel."

There was several moments of silence before Shawn slowly rose to his feet. "Listen, John,'" he said, "If you want me to, I'll talk to Katy."

John looked doubtfully at Shawn.

"I think enough water has gone under the bridge for this to finally be worked out," said Shawn, "And I want to **see** it worked out. I'll talk to Katy. I promise."

John said nothing, but his body language suggested all too plainly that he didn't expect any good results. Nonetheless, John sighed and nodded his approval.

"Good luck, Shawn." he said quietly.

Maya got up to walk out with Shawn, but just as they got to the door, Maya turned to look back at the disabled man rubbing his forehead and looking at the floor in frustration.

She couldn't possibly look at him the same way anymore; all of her life, Maya saw John as the funny uncle; funny and wise, but always remote. But looking at him now, she began to see a whole new layer to the man; now he looked as if he had come to fully accept that he was permanently alone, and that he felt he had no other choice but to take himself out of the world because he couldn't forgive himself for something that ultimately wasn't his fault.

Shawn and Maya both heard the story, they saw the scar, and Maya knew that Shawn would not just sit on this new information, and she didn't want him to. She wanted to get to know her uncle better, even better than she knew him now.

Maya slowly walks back over to John, knelt down next to his wheelchair, and gently wrapped her arms around his neck.

 _Josh is right_ , Shawn thought, _she really does have a great capacity for love._

Maya pulls back enough to look her uncle John in the face.

"Thank you, Uncle John." she whispered through sniffling and misty eyes.

Outside of his mother, John had almost never been given so much affectionate gratitude before, certainly not for this. Wordlessly, he looked back at his niece and nodded.

Maya tenderly gives John a kiss on the cheek and one more embrace before she pulls herself back up to her feet and slowly walks out with Shawn.

The elevator stops in the lobby and Shawn and Maya make their way out of the hotel. The two say very little to one another until they get back into Shawn's car, but Shawn is in no hurry to start it up just yet. He sits in the driver seat still contemplating the amazing story they had just heard.

"I agree with you, y'know," said Maya, "Mom needs to know about this."

Shawn nodded. "Yeah, but **telling** her is not going to be so easy." he quietly said

"Why wouldn't it be? It's basically the same as when you told **me** the truth about... Kermit."

Maya didn't even bother to refer to Kermit as her biological father anymore; he had willfully given up that title and everything that went with it, and according to Shawn, he did it all on his own, and the fact that Katy, albeit reluctantly, backed up what Shawn told her, to say nothing of the fact that Shawn is so much a part of Maya's life now, puts it beyond all dispute that it was true. As far as Maya was concerned, **Shawn** is her father now, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"No, this is different." Shawn said.

"How?"

"Well, for one thing," Shawn began, "When I told you about Kermit, your mother eventually backed me up. I don't think I can count on John's backup here."

"Why not?"

" **You** saw the way he reacted when he told us what happened. It's remained fresh in his own mind all this time. He's kept it to himself for so long I don't think he could bring himself to **tell** the story again, let alone corroborate it."

Maya nodded in agreement. "So what are we gonna do?"

The wheels began to turn in Shawn's head. "Well, he said it went before the grand jury,"

"Yeah.."

"So it would be a matter or record... of **public** record."

"Yeah, I guess it would." Maya replied.

"..and it would almost certainly have been covered by the **media**.." Shawn continued.

"What are you thinking, Dad?"

Shawn's eyes began to light up, and a smile started to form on his face.

"I just got an idea." Shawn whips out his cellphone and touches a speed dial number on the keypad. It doesn't take long for the person on the other end to answer.

"Hey, Topanga, it's Shawn. Have you got a few minutes? I need you to do something for me and Maya..."

 ** _BRIDGE_**

"Self defense?"

Over the phone, Shawn told Topanga a condensed version of the story John had told him and Maya.

 _"That and defense of another person. It's all true, Topanga,"_ said Shawn, _"The grand jury ruled it self-defense, and John even showed us the scar on his shoulder from where his father tried to kill **him**."_

"Maya was there with you?"

 _"Yeah, she was there. She heard the story too."_

"So what do you need me to do?"

 _"Do some digging and get any information you can about the case. Court reports, newspaper articles, anything you can find."_

"What are you going to do with it?"

Shawn took a deeper breath before he spoke, _"I think it's going to take a lot more than just my word this time. I need something to back up what I tell Katy, so I'm gonna need everything you can get your hands on, Topanga. Will you do it?"_

Topanga nodded. "Okay, give me an hour. I'll see what I can find."

 _"Thanks. Oh, and one more thing..."_

"Yeah?"

 _"Let **me** break it to her."_

"Right. See you in an hour..."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER THREE_**


	6. Chapter Four

**_SYNOPSIS_**

 ** _Shawn and Maya get the full story from John and reveal to Katy what they've learned, and Katy gets some good advice from an unexpected source..._**

* * *

Katy got up from the dinner table and started to pace the floor in front of Shawn and Maya. A part of her wishes she hadn't said anything at all to Shawn back at the bakery. From that moment she had a feeling that Shawn would dig further into what happened between her brother and her dad, and the mere fact that he did upset her more.

"I should have known..."

"What's **that** supposed to mean?" Shawn asked.

" **Why** , Shawn?" Katy asked hard, ignoring Shawn's question, "Why did you have to go and **do** this?"

"Because John is your **family** , Katy."

" **You** and **Maya** are my family, Shawn!"

"But **John** was your family before **we** were."

"My **mother** was my family. I barely **knew** John."

"That's beside the point. He's still your **brother** , Katy," said Shawn, "But for what it's worth I kinda understand how you feel." he added.

"Understand what?"

"The age difference," Shawn replied, "I've seen this before, you know."

"What are you talking about?"

"Cory and Josh," replied Shawn, "They were born eighteen years apart, but **they're** still **brothers**."

"Well, that may very well be," said Katy, "But they're pretty close."

"That doesn't mean **you and John** can't become closer."

"Josh never killed his **dad**."

"That's because **his** **dad** never tried to kill **him**." Shawn replied.

Katy stopped dead in her tracks and furrowed her brow at Shawn. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Shawn, what are you talking about?"

"Katy, your dad tried to kill **John**. And if he **had** , he would have killed your mother, **and** he would have killed **you**. **That's** why John killed **him**."

Katy stared at Shawn for a long time, the furrow in her brow began to lessen, but then she slowly started shaking her head. "I... I wish I could believe that, Shawn." she said as she turned away from him.

"Why **can't** you?"

"Because I don't know that John is telling the truth. And all **you** have to go by is his word."

 _I expected this,_ Shawn thought to himself, but then said aloud,

'No, Katy.. we've got **more** than just John's word."

Shawn walked over to an end table near the door and picked up a manila folder with papers inside. He opened it and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Katy. It was a copy of a clipping from the _Tulsa World_ newspaper.

"I think you need to take a look at this." said Shawn.

Still skeptical, Katy took the paper and read:

 ** _September 21, 1982_**

 ** _CLUTTERBUCKET SHOOTING RULED SELF-DEFENSE_**

 ** _The District Attorney's office has announced that they will not seek charges against a teenager for killing his father. A Tulsa County Grand Jury determined that John Clutterbucket, 16, of Oak Creek Village, acted in self-defense and in defense of others when on the night of August 23 he shot and killed his father Roy Clutterbucket, 37, who had escaped earlier from Tulsa County Jail. Roy was serving a six-month sentence for child abuse and assault and was due to be released in eight days when he made his escape._**

 ** _County Sheriff's officials testified that when they arrived at the scene of the shooting at Oak Creek Village Mobile Home Park, they found the body of Roy Clutterbucket still holding a gun in his hand, and John with a bullet wound in his right shoulder. John had testified to the grand jury that he and his mother had endured severe abuse from Roy over the years, and while Roy was being led away after his conviction of child abuse and assault he had threatened to come after John. Further testimony revealed that John had fired his weapon at Roy the moment he saw the gun in Roy's hand, and that Roy had fired a shot at John wounding him in the shoulder before John fired a second shot killing Roy. Forensics later proved that John's bullet wound was caused by the gun in Roy's possession._**

 ** _John's mother,_** ** _Angela Clutterbucket, 36, also of Oak Creek Village, who testified in John's defense, was present during the shooting but was not injured. At the time of the shooting Angela was pregnant with Roy's child, John's sibling, and is due to give birth sometime in early October.._**

Katy slowly looked up from the clipping. "Shawn, where did you find this?"

"I didn't. **Topanga** found it," said Shawn, "But there's more, Katy." He handed her some other papers to read. Katy perused through a rap sheet that showed the numerous crimes her father had been initially accused of, including the numerous petty thefts, DUIs, and all the dismissed charges of spousal abuse, and then the assault and child abuse, which landed Roy in jail for six months until he escaped intending to kill his wife and son.

Overwhelmed, Katy sank down in her chair at the table still looking at the papers and shaking her head. Shawn sat back down in his chair next to her.

"You see now?" Shawn asked softly, "John was telling the truth; the whole thing **was** self-defense. And John wasn't just defending **himself** ; your **mom** was there when it happened."

"And she was pregnant with **you** , Mom." Maya added.

It was too much for Katy, her eyes welling with tears as continued looking at the papers.

"Don't you see?" Shawn gently asked, "If it weren't for John you wouldn't **be** here right now. And neither would **Maya**."

Still shaking her head, Katy again stared at the paperwork as she continued processing this new information. With every passing second it sank in more and more.

"Oh, my God..." Katy whispered to herself as she slowly raised her hand to cover her mouth, "Ohh, my **God**..."

The realization finally hit her right where she lives: Not only had Katy found out things about her father that she never knew, but it was being shown to her that she had her brother figured all wrong. Everything she **thought** she **knew** about John was wrong. This revelation changed it all, and suddenly, all of the resentment toward John, all of the bitterness, all of the anger, all of the hatred, had disappeared.

She again turned to her husband. "Shawn, I..."

"I know, Katy.." Shawn softly repied, "I know."

She leaned forward into Shawn's arms as she couldn't hold back her emotions any more. Maya got up from her chair and knelt next to her mother putting her hand on her shoulder. Katy reached her hand around and placed it over Maya's as she continued sobbing.

Deep down, Katy knew that Shawn wasn't trying to prove her wrong about what John had done because they both knew she **wasn't**. But now it was coming out that she had spent her whole life living on a half-truth. It **was** true that John had killed their dad, but until Shawn came into Katy's life she never knew why; but now the other half of the truth was in full view, and it revealed without doubt that Katy's brother was not a murderer, but a defender...

 **Her** defender...

Her **protector**.

It was a very long time before Katy could say anything else.

"I… I had no idea," she finally said. "Mom never said anything about it."

"Maybe..." Maya began, "Maybe Grandma and Uncle John just wanted to put it all behind them and start anew."

Shawn nodded in agreement while Katy sat back in her chair still wiping tears from her eyes. Again, it was long moments before anyone spoke.

"What are you thinking, Mom?"

"I don't know yet." Katy was now staring off into space. "I... I've been holding this against John for so long, and all this time it never **occurred** to me that there was more **to** it."

"Maybe it might be time to forgive him," Shawn said.

"I would. I **will** , I **swear** I will, Shawn, but… but I just don't know how I'm going to **face** him now..."

 ** _"I_** _ **might be able to help with that**._ ** _"_**

This time it wasn't Shawn or Maya who spoke. Shawn immediately recognized the deep and throaty voice resonating from the doorway: Chet Hunter, his late father and spirit guide, was slowly walking toward Shawn, who stood up and started walking toward him.

"Hey." said Shawn.

 _"How you doin', boy?"_

"You already **know** the answer to **that."** Shawn replied.

 _"Yeah, that's true,"_ said Chet, _"But old habits die hard, and some don't die at all."_

"Y'know, I kinda had a feeling you'd show up right about now," said Shawn smiling.

 _"Hey, wouldn't miss it,"_ Chet smiled back.

"Uhm, Shawn, who is this?" asked Katy, who along with Maya had joined Shawn at the doorway.

"Oh, you've never met, have you? Katy, Maya, this is my da-"

Shawn stops dead in his tracks and looks with astonishment at Chet and then back to Katy and Maya.

"You can **see** him?!"

"Well, of **course** I can see him," said Katy incredulously, "He's standing right in front of us."

"I can see him, **too**." Maya chimed in.

"Ohhh, boy," Shawn takes a deep breath in anticipation that they won't understand what he is about to tell them.

"Katy, Maya, this... is my **dad**. Chet Hunter."

A smile gradually grows on Katy's face; she looks first at Shawn, then at Chet, "Ohh, well, I don't think I've had the **pleasure** , Mr. Hunter."

"Uhmm, Mom.."

"Shawn's told me so much about you..."

"Mo-o-om..."

"I can see where Shawn gets his good looks from..."

" **Mom!** "

"Maya!" Katy wheels around on Maya, who was staring at Chet wide-eyed and mouth agape.

"Mom, don't you **get** it?"

"What am I supposed to get?"

"This is Shawn's dad," replied Maya.

Katy continues staring at Maya, still not getting it.

"His **dad**."

"So?"

"Mom, do you remember what Dad told you about him?"

"Shawn said he called me a screwball."

" **Besides** that." Maya responded.

Katy had to think for a moment. "Yeah, Shawn said he died years ago."

Maya gives her mother a look of 'hel-looo', and when it hits Katy she wheels back around to Chet.

"OHHH-H-H-H-H!"

Katy recoils in horror as it finally dawns on her that the older man standing in front of her is a ghost!

Shawn smiles as he takes Katy's hands in his, "It's all right, Honey. I don't want you panicking on me."

Katy can't take her eyes off of Chet.

"Hey, look at me, Katy. Look at me." Shawn implored.

Katy can only glance back and forth at her husband and his departed father, who at the moment doesn't **look** so departed.

"It's true, it's all true. Dad died years ago, but he still shows up for me every now and then at the most important moments to give me advice."

Katy is still having trouble processing this new information.

"I swear, Katy, it's all true." Shawn reassured.

"Hey, **wait** a minute," said Maya, "Dad, did he show up for you when Mom first asked you out on a date?"

"He sure did," replied Shawn. Chet nods in agreement.

Maya began to smile as her eyes lit up in knowing, "So **that's** why it took you so long to give us an answer."

"I just wanted to make sure I had some good advice." Shawn said.

 _"And look what **that** gotcha,"_ said Chet. _"An amazing wife, and a daughter whose just as amazing."_ Katy and Maya both blushed.

 _"Y'know, I'll never forget the first time **I** saw her in the delivery room..."_

"Dad..."

 _"Ohh-kay, so I'm overreaching. Forget it."_ Chet walks around Shawn to stand in front of Katy, who still feels a little uneasy.

 _"Listen..."_ Chet began, _"I know you're already aware that you have a wonderful family, Katy. You've got my **boy** now, and you've **always** had your **daughter**. Now that **alone** is sayin' something."_

"I'm... I'm very lucky." Katy nervously replies.

 _"And now you've got an **extended** family,"_ Chet continued, _"Cory and Topanga and their kids and all their friends; I know **they're** pretty amazing, too,"_ Shawn, Katy and Maya all nod. _"Say, uh.. Did you know Cory's dad offered to adopt Shawn?"_ Chet asked.

"I heard about that," Katy replied, her nervousness now abating, "I also remember Cory saying that Shawn preferred to stay a street urchin."

 _"Yeah, well, I wanted to kick him in the **pants** for that one,"_ said Chet with a wink to Shawn. _"I always said that gettin' adopted by the Matthews would have been a hell of a trade-up for him."_

"He's right." Shawn said with a smile.

"I know that to be true." Maya said.

"So do I." Katy added.

 _"But now there's **this** to think about,"_ Chet gets more serious, _"You have **your** family, and you have your **extended** family, but **you** … are the **only** family that your **brother** has left, and if it were me, I'd be making every effort, **every** effort, to reach out to your brother right now and make him a bigger part of **your** family. And knowing what you know **now** , I think he **deserves** it... don't **you**?"_

Katy begins to nod.

 _"Then you know what you gotta do,"_ said Chet.

Katy takes a deep breath, "Yeah. I do."

"I'll try and get hold of Uncle John on his cell," said Maya, pulling out her cellphone.

"I'll call the hotel," said Katy.

Chet started to walk out, but Shawn stops him for a moment.

"Hey Dad," Shawn began, "Thanks again for showing up."

 _"Like I said,"_ Chet replied, _"I wouldn't miss it."_

"Hey, listen... Katy and Maya can both see you now, and this time you came for Katy, and not that I don't appreciate it, but... how come they **can** see you now?"

Chet looks at Shawn with a widening smile, _"It shouldn't be hard for **you** to figure out."_

Shawn looks at Chet with confusion.

 _"They're both a big part of your life now, son. And I know how important they are to you,"_ Chet continued, _"Shared experience: you can see **their** lives through **your** eyes, but **now** **they** can see **your** life through **their** eyes."_

"They can see what **I** see. And **that's** why they can see you."

Chet nodded, and Shawn cracked a huge smile at his departed father.

"Thanks, Dad."

 _"You betcha. See ya 'round."_

"His voicemail keeps picking up. I can't get hold of him!" Maya's voice was urgent.

"The hotel said John **checked out 30 minutes** ago." Katy said.

A split moment before it hits Shawn. "He's heading back **home**."

"The **airport**!" Katy and Maya chorus together.

"Maybe we can catch him! **C'mon**!"

The three are nearly out the door when Riley shows up on the doorstep.

"Hey! Where are we going?"

"The airport!" Maya answers grabbing a confused Riley by the arm, "I'll explain on the way there!"

The door slams behind them...

 _ **END OF CHAPTER FOUR**_


	7. Conclusion

_**SYNOPSIS**_

 ** _Katy is now convinced of the full truth about her brother, but when they find out that he has checked out of the hotel and is on his way home, Katy, Shawn, Maya (and Riley) race against time to catch him before he leaves.._**

* * *

Shawn, Katy, Maya and Riley frantically sprinted through the airport terminal trying to catch up to John before he boards his plane to go back to Cleveland. They dashed from one gate to another hoping to find a man in a wheelchair, only to come up empty each time. A feeling of futility started to pervade the collective thoughts of the four until...

 **" _TransWays Airlines Flight 937 will be departing for Cleveland from Gate C-26 in twenty minutes. Boarding passengers now..."_**

"C-26? That's at the other end of the terminal!" said Maya.

"It's going to take us at **least** twenty minutes just to get **over** there," said Riley.

"We'll never make it!" said Katy.

"Not if we keep standing here," Shawn replied, "C'mon!"

The four decide to pour on the speed, using the moving sidewalks to gain ground and time. Fortunately there weren't many people on them, so they could move a lot faster...

* * *

He felt it was the right thing to do. Ever since Shawn and Maya left the hotel, the same thought endlessly gnawed at his mind. Sure, he was thankful that Shawn wanted to try and make things right between him and Katy, but when it all came down to it, John felt he had no right to expect anything good to come of it, at least not right away. He convinced himself that it would be better to just go back home, let it all sink in, and then maybe, just maybe, reach out to Katy later in the hope that next time she won't be so eager to push him away.

He had just handed his ticket to the clerk at the airline boarding desk when...

 _ **"John!"**_

John heard a woman's voice calling his name. He stopped momentarily and turned his wheelchair around, but then did a bit of a double take when he saw his sister, his brother-in-law, his niece **and** her best friend approaching rapidly.

"John, what are you doing?" asked Shawn.

"What does it **look** like I'm doing, Shawn? I'm going home."

"Now?" Maya asked.

"Yes, Maya. Now."

"Why?" Shawn asked.

John ran his hand through his hair as he looked down at the floor and then took a deep breath, struggling to find his words.

"Because... after telling you two about what happened," he began, "it just... it just opened up some old wounds again, and the only way I've been able to deal with them is on my own."

" **You** don't have to go it alone, John." said Shawn.

"I don't know any other way, Shawn," John put his head in his hands. "It seems like every door I've come to has either been locked, sealed shut, or... slammed in my face. This is the only way I know how to deal with it, and I have nobody to help me." he said.

Those last six words resonated with Maya more than anyone else. At one time she felt the exact same way, but she found herself in a world alongside a girl who became her undisputed best friend, and her father who took it upon himself to be a mentor as well as a teacher; two people who were more than willing to help her. But on top of that, she also found herself alongside of a man who not only became her mother's husband, but chose to become the new father she deserved. Maya could see all too clearly that the time had come to try and pay it forward.

"I know how you feel, Uncle John." said Maya, "I've been there. **I** know what it's like to not have someone to help me, but it's not like that for me anymore." Maya quietly said, glancing at Shawn and Riley, and at her mother, "I know **I'm** not **alone** anymore. And we don't want **you** to be alone, either. Nobody deserves that."

John's head was still in his hands as Katy knelt down next to him so he could hear her better.

"I understand now." she quietly said.

John slowly raised his head up to look at his sister, but this time the look in her eyes was different. He was so used to seeing little else but a harsh and cold resentment every time he looked her way, but now her brown eyes radiated a much warmer aura: a soul brimming with a newfound yearning to forgive, but even so he couldn't yet bring himself to believe what he was seeing.. or hearing.

"What?"

"I understand what happened, John. I know now why you killed Dad."

"Katy, I..."

"Shawn and Maya told me everything," Katy continued, "They told me what you said, and Topanga got all the information to back it up."

"Katy," said John, fighting back a tear, "I'm not proud of what I did. Please know that."

"I know," said Katy, "but I also know now that Dad didn't give you any other choice. You did the only thing you could **do** , John: you protected Mom **and** you protected **me**. You gave me my **life** , John."

"And with that you gave life to **Maya** ," added Shawn.

"And where would **I** be without **her**?" asked Riley.

"And where would **any** of us be if it weren't for **you** , John?" asked Katy.

John looked at Katy for a long time. The thick impenetrable walls surrounding his soul were now collapsing and turning to dust. An overwhelming feeling of belonging was taking over his long-oppressed spirit, and he was definitely not used to it.

Katy takes John's hand in both of hers. "My brother," she whispered, her eyes welling with tears.

"My sister," John faintly responded in a cracking voice, and the two reconciled siblings reconnect in a tight embrace, both sobbing, and in no hurry whatever to break the hug. Maya and Riley put their hands on Katy's shoulders while Shawn comes up behind John and puts his hand on John's shoulder.

Shawn leaned down toward John's ear while he and Katy were still embracing. "Hey... John, you don't have to go back to Cleveland **yet** , do you?" he softly asked.

John gently pulled away from his sister and used the back of his hand to wipe away his tears. "No, not really... but now that I've checked out of the hotel I don't see where I have any other choice. I have nowhere else to stay."

"You can stay with **us**." said Katy, with Shawn nodding.

"Yeah," said Maya, "We'd **love** to have you, Uncle John."

John was trying hard to absorb the sudden outpouring of hospitality from his new family, but it was a little overwhelming. He couldn't help bit chuckle at the offer presented to him.

"You know, I-I've practically lived my entire adult life **alone** ," he said, "This is going to take some getting used to."

"You'll get used to it," said Shawn, "If you let yourself."

"People change people." said Maya, with the others nodding in affirmation.

"And it's never too late to change," said Shawn.

John looks up at Shawn, then at Maya and Riley, and then at Katy, all with expectant smiles on their faces.

 _They're not going to let me off the hook,_ John thought, _And this is one time I'm not so sure I **want** to be off the hook…_

John lets out a soft chuckle as a smile slowly begins to grow on his face. "All right then," he said with a nod, "You people have twelve days left to change me. I'm all yours."

A cheer goes up among the three still standing as Katy and John once again embrace. Maya and Riley gather John's luggage and they all begin to walk out of the airport, but Shawn hangs back for a moment to talk to John alone. Shawn walks along the slow-wheeling John while the girls tread on ahead of them.

"Hey, John, listen," Shawn began, "You have every right to feel this way, but I was just thinking.. I hope you're not upset that I told Katy."

John forms his words in his head before answering.

"You're right, Shawn," he finally said, "I **do** have a right to be upset..."

Shawn draws a breath through his teeth in expectation of a dressing-down by his brother-in-law.

"...but I'm **not**. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm more **relieved** than anything else."

"Relieved?"

"Yeah. Look at it from **my** point of view," John explained, "I mean, not being able to tell Katy the whole story was just another thing I had to deal with. I've had to keep it buried inside of me all these years. Then she found out about it when she was nine, and things just got worse, and there was nothing I could do about it."

"Why **couldn't** you tell her yourself?" Shawn was a little confused.

"Because I knew I'd run the risk of having her not believe me," John answered. "Besides, we weren't that close. In fact, we weren't really close at all... But now it's different."

"How?"

"Because of **you** ," John replied. " **Y** **ou're** a part of the picture now, Shawn. Katy will listen to you. She **did** listen to you."

"That's why you're relieved."

"Yes. She finally got the truth from someone she **trusts** , and that's **you** , Shawn."

Shawn processes John's words for a moment, "You know, to be honest, I was half expecting you to be more upset than grateful."

"What, are you're expecting me to apologize for disappointing you?"

Shawn looks up at the ceiling in contemplation and shakes his head. "No." he said in his higher pitched voice. John chuckled.

"Shawn, look," said John, "You've become a husband for my sister, **and** you've taken it upon yourself to become a much-needed father for my niece. As a mere uncle, I knew could never fill those voids," John takes Shawn's hand in his own in a brotherly handshake. "But you know something? Today, you've just proven beyond all debate that you're more than just a brother-in-law to me. You're a friend, a very good friend. It's been a long time since I've had a friend like that."

"There's more where that came from, you know." said Shawn.

"I'm beginning to believe it. And now," said John, glancing toward the girls, "I have a little something to look forward to." The two brothers go off and catch up with the girls and leave the airport.

"And besides," Shawn added, "You still haven't found your legs yet."

John laughed shaking his head. "True words."

"I have **another** brother, **too** , you know." said Shawn as they walk away.

"Cory?"

"Yeah."

"So which one of you is the **crazy** one?" asked John.

"Oh, **Cory** is. No question." They both chuckle.

"You do know he's going to say **you** are."

"Oh, I **know** he will."

"You know what that means, don't you?" asked John.

"We're **both** crazy?"

"You got it."

The two laugh as they all head back home.

* * *

 _ **EPILOGUE**_

" **Danger** Boy?!"

John is somewhat bewildered as he listens to Topanga relate one of several stories about Cory in his younger years, particularly when he and Mr. Feeny decided to ride a particularly scary roller coaster in an effort to impress Cory's friends.

In the nearly two weeks he has been on vacation in New York, John again began to feel a sense of peace that he hadn't felt in years, only this time it was different. The first time he had felt it was after he had killed his abusive father, but **this** time the peace he felt in his soul stemmed not so much from the end of hate, but now from the beginning of love and forgiveness from his sister and, of course, from her husband who decided he was worth going out on a limb to help.

John didn't mind staying with Katy, Maya and Shawn in their small apartment, not in the least, and brother and sister spent a great deal of time catching up, comparing their own thoughts and dreams with the other, and coming to a mutual understanding about each other's life. He liked how he felt now, and wanted more of it. But then he started thinking of the old cliche about 'all good things coming to an end', but then he reminded himself of another saying that 'for every end there's a new beginning', and this was a new beginning.

But outside of the Hunter Three, he became much more acquainted with the Matthews clan: Cory, Shawn's best friend from childhood, whom John could only shake his head at whenever he said or did something unconventional. Topanga, Cory's wife and, as far as John was concerned, the most level-headed of the Matthews, although she was prone to less-frequent episodes of weirdness. Auggie, the precocious young lad whom John noticed had a penchant for music... and then Riley- John had **never** met **anyone** like Riley before. He once called her the "little girl with the big ideas", just like the old Gidget character he remembered from the movies and TV show. John decided that if he tried to analyze Maya's best friend any further he would only drive himself further toward crazy, and with the stories that Cory and Topanga were sharing with him, he was already pretty close to that threshold.

"So how did you two end up in each other's seat?"

"I'm still not completely sure how that happened." Cory replied.

John can only chuckle and shake his head.

"Mr. Feeny doesn't remember either," Riley added.

"And that's when you kicked your brother Eric and this Turner fellow into the car, and they rode the coaster themselves?"

"Yep."

"And Eric was never the same again." said Topanga.

"So what happened to your brother Eric?"

"Ohh, he's a Senator now." Cory said nonchalantly.

John stared at Cory for a moment in disbelief. " **Wait** a minute. You mean to tell me that Senator Matthews is **your brother**?!"

"Yep."

"And we all helped to get him elected." Riley said proudly.

John turned to Shawn. "Good grief, they're **all** crazy." he said softly.

"Give it time," replied Shawn, "You'll become just like them before you realize it."

"Ohh, I can hardly wait." said John sarcastically, as someone knocked at the door.

"Come in!" called Cory.

The door opens and Jonathan Turner walks in.

"Hey, Jon." said Cory.

"Hey, Cor," Turner answered back, "Topanga, how are ya?"

"Doing good, as always. So what's the word, Jon?" Topanga asked.

"Word? **What** word?" asked Riley.

Turner looks at Topanga, glances at Riley and Maya, and then turns to Cory before he answers. "I have some good news... for two of you, at least." he finally says.

Cory and Topanga look at Turner in expectation, while Riley and Maya look at him with confusion.

"The school board took a vote, and it was unanimous. Cory Matthews, beginning next year you will officially be... Vice-Principal Matthews."

" **WHAT?!** " Riley and Maya chorus together in disbelief.

"You heard right," said Turner to the girls, "Starting next year, Cory Matthews will be the new vice-principal of Abigail Adams High School."

The girls, Topanga and Shawn all gather around Cory giving him congratulatory hugs.

"Cor, why didn't you tell us?" Shawn asked.

"I didn't want to say anything to anyone until I knew for sure." Cory replied.

"Well, it looks like history just might repeat itself after all!" Topanga said.

"Yeah," Shawn added, "Just wait until Feeny hears about this."

"Speaking of history..." Riley began.

"...who's going to replace **you** , Matthews?" Maya finished .

"Actually, Maya, we already have someone else in mind." Turner adroitly replied.

"You **do**?" said Riley and Maya, again together.

"Yep," said Turner, "If he's willing to accept the job."

Turner's eyes, and gradually everyone else's, came to rest on the man sitting in the wheelchair, and John is slow to pick up on why. In fact, he doesn't pick up on it at all, at least not yet.

"Hello." John says awkwardly as Turner walks toward him.

"Hey, how you doin', John," says Turner extending his hand, "I'm Jonathan Turner, superintendent of the Adams' School System here in the Borough.

Still feeling awkward, John shakes Turner's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Turner, but I'm... afraid you have me at a disadvantage."

"What do you mean?" asked Turner.

"Well, I haven't even introduced myself, and you already know my name?"

"Oh, well, Cory and Topanga told me about you," said Turner, "They even gave me your resume." Jon produces a folded piece of paper out of his blazer and hands it to John, who examines the paper with a degree of apprehension.

"That's quite a background you've got, John, what with your two degrees and all."

"Two degrees?" asked Shawn.

"Communications and history." said Cory.

John's apprehension increases as he gazes at Cory.

"How did you know that?"

Cory attempts to backpedal a bit. "Uhh, you told us." he said unconvincingly.

"Uhh, no-o, I **didn't** ," John replied. He then looked accusingly at Shawn.

"Not guilty." Shawn replied, "I didn't even know you were a college grad."

John looks back at Turner. "How do you **know** so much about me?" Then his eyes came to rest on the woman standing next to Cory and he gasps…

" _ **Topanga!**_ " John exclaims in a loud whisper as he raises his index finger to point at her as she cracks her signature smile of triumph.

"We found out quite a bit about you when I looked up the information to confirm the story you told Shawn and Maya," Topanga explained. "You went into the military and attended the Community College of the Air Force, and got your Bachelor's Degree in communication, and then you went through Officer Training School to get your commission."

"We **also** found out," Cory added, "that you were promoted to Major right before you were injured."

" **And** after you got out of the **Air** Force," Topanga continued, "You went back to college and got your B.S. in History."

"But I'm not certified to be a teacher." protested John.

"Oh, we can help you with that," said Turner, "Besides, as far as New York is concerned you're **already** more than **qualified**. It's just a matter of paperwork."

John is dumbfounded by the revelations, but Turner continues. "And that's not all," he said, "You've probably heard we have a new radio station at the high school,"

"I did hear **something** about that, yeah."

"Well, we need a general manager to run it, and from your resume, it looks like you're made to order for that part, too."

Before John can say anything, the door bursts open and Katy glides in.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey, Mom," says Maya, "Where have you been?"

"At the doctor."

"Why the doctor?" Maya asked.

"I had an appointment."

"Appointment? For what?"

Shawn looks at his beaming wife for a moment or two. "You look like you're about to explode in… in…"

" **Rainbows**!" Riley finished the sentence for him.

"I was gonna say," said Shawn as he gets up to stand next to Katy. "You gonna tell them or should I?"

"Tell us **what**?" said Maya.

Topanga looked at Katy and almost immediately picked up on her expression, and even more so, the glow on her face, but Cory is slower to pick up on the signals.

"I think I already know." said Topanga smiling suspiciously.

"Mom, you know I love being kept in suspense," said Maya sarcastically, "What's going on?"

Now Cory was starting to show signs that he knew. "Shawnie," Cory finally picked up on the subleties, "Are you..."

"That's right, Cor," Shawn flashes his own trademark smile as he looks at Cory and Topanga, "I'm **finally** starting to gain some **ground** on you two!"

Maya's eyes widen as she looks at her mother.

"No."

Katy's smile widens even more.

"No!" Maya repeats, her face beginning to crack its own smile.

"Yep."

"I'm gonna..."

"...have a little sibling!"

There's a pause while daughter and best friend allow the news to sink in, and then...

" **YAY-Y-Y!** " Maya and Riley shout together. Maya runs to her mother and adoptive father and tightly hugs them both at the same time. Cory, meanwhile, starts doing a happy dance around Shawn chanting "Daddy, Daddy, Daaa-dy! Daddy, Daddy, Daaa-dy!"

"So how far along are you, Katy?" asked Topanga.

"Five weeks," Katy replied, "But I think I already feel the little monkey starting to kick."

John smiles and shakes his head. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle." he thought aloud.

Just days earlier a massive self-built wall surrounding his soul was obliterated by a forgiving sister, and an extended family who wanted to **be** his extended family. Now, this group was going to increase by one, and John was starting to feel something stronger; stronger than love, stronger than forgiveness, a feeling that he wanted to belong, and except for the missing silver platter, the chance to do just that was being handed to him.

"Uhm, Mr. Turner.." John began.

"You can call me Jonathan."

Turner and everyone else in the room had again turned their eyes to John.

"Okay.. **Jonathan**.. I'm, uh… I'm afraid going to have to have to run back home..."

"John, you're getting ready to head back to Cleveland?" Katy asked.

"Well, yeah. All my stuff is there," John explained, "I... need to go back home, and uhh… pack everything up so I can... move here to New York and start my new job."

Everyone in the room begins to smile except for Katy, who is a little confused.

"New job? **What** new job?"

"I've just been selected to be the new history teacher at the high school." John replied.

Katy smiles with surprise at John.

"John, that's wonderful!"

"He's also going to run the school's new radio station." Maya added.

"But first things first," John says. "I need to find a place of my own."

"Hey Cor," Shawn pipes up, "Remember that empty apartment you told me about here in this building?"

"Yeah."

"Is it still vacant?"

Cory hesitates for a second. "Not any **more**." he said.

"Well, that takes care of **that**." Shawn said to John.

"And now, second things second: I could use some extra hands to help pack. Any volunteers?"

No one speaks up.

"I might be able to make it worth your **while**." John adds.

"How?" Riley asks apprehensively.

"Well… I, uh... I have a few favors I can call in," says John with increasing nonchalance, "and... may-y-y-be snag some free passes for everyone... to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum..."

A moment of silence, and then…

" ** _ROAD TRIP!_** " Riley and Maya shout together.

The other adults look at one another, and then…

" ** _ROAD TRIP!_** " the grown-ups all shout together.

Katy walks over to John, kneels down next to him and gives him a sisterly hug.

"Welcome home, big brother."

"Thanks, sis. It's good to be back."

* * *

 _ **THE END**_

* * *

 _ **COMING SOON:**_

 _ **When they learn that workaholic John has not been in a relationship in years, Maya and the other girls scheme for John to meet one of Topanga's friends at an upcoming school dance... and they very quickly get in over their heads!**_


End file.
